Plank Bender for Model Ships

Plank bender for wooden model ship builders which cost at least £20 online.

The blade is a blunted rectangle of aluminium 25 x 7mm (0.96mm thick) from a piece I had lying around.

For those who have never come across one of these it's used to score one side of a plank repeatedly at close regular intervals with the result that the plank achieves a bend over a chosen length to plank a model ship's hull.

I printed this using PETG but the arms to tend to bend a little under pressure so ABS might perform better.  PLA may snap.

The spring is 5.6mm dia, 35mm long, 0.7mm gauge.

No supports but you may have to file out the v-grooves that grip the plate and blade pieces.  These pieces are separate to be able to replace them without re-printing the whole thing.

Layer height:  0.3mm
Infill:  100%
No skirt or brim

Note that the gcode/3mf files include a negative cylinder shape over one of the grip halves to alow freer movement

An M4 x 10mm hex bolt and nut are required to hinge the pliers but it actually works fine without them as the grip halves are held in position due to the strength and tension of the spring - hence the strong and slightly over-sized spring.

Regards, Paul